Previous Chapters Next
Close
Prologue933 words
(Part 1) Calm before the Storm1,785 words
(Part 2) Old and New1,573 words
(Part 3) To hunt a Cyberpony1,516 words
(Part 4) Facts, Figures, and Failures.1,256 words
(Part 5) The Medicine Pony and The Grey Queen1,725 words
Torchwhoof Files: Derpy Hooves and C.M.C.-1 (Apple Bloom)394 words
(Part 6) The Grey and Unseen Armies1,289 words
(Part 7) Hoof Full of Bits (or, The Good, The Bad, and The Mechanical)1,228 words
Epilogue1,061 words

(Part 2) Old and New

Old and New

The Doctor yawed as he stared out the window of the train. Normally, he would be questioning how a team of no more then four horses was able to pull a train, let alone a train full of ponies. Today, however, his mind was focused more on Torchwhoof, and General Stormbreaker.

I understand why Celestia and Luna would make a division of the royal guard to over look strange events, the time colt thought, but even in my own dimension that took millennium to come about. This universe is strange, even for me, but first the pictures of me in city hall, the news paper clippings, and now Torchwhoof? It’s like there’s some force pushing all these events in order... Could it just be my presence here?

“Hey Doctor?” Apple Bloom’s voice shattered The Doctor’s train of thought. This whole time the filly had barely made a peep, so the brown stallion wrote her off as being asleep.

“Yes Apple Bloom? What’s wrong?” The time colt turned his head to face the farm filly on the bench across from his own.

“Nothing, I was just wondering why you didn’t ask Derpy to come with us.” Apple Bloom smiled at her friend, she really hadn’t talked to The Doctor alone since she met him. Maybe she’d be able to learn more about the mysterious pony with the blue box.

“I did actually,” The Doctor began, “ Derpy thought the trip would be too long to stay away from Dinky. Plus, she didn’t want to pull her daughter out of school, so she just wished me a safe trip.” He smiled as he pictured the glee-filled, yet still sad look of his companion. He knew that the grey pegasus would miss him, and he’d miss her too, but Apple Bloom did need someone... no, somepony. Blasted Equestrian phrases... to watched her and make sure she didn’t get hurt. Or as Big Mac had put it, ‘Don’t let her try any Cutie Mark Crusades.’ The Doctor couldn’t help but chuckle at the big red stallion’s plea, he knew that Apple Bloom wouldn’t try anything with out her two best friends. It actually made the time colt wonder how destructive the three fillies would be apart... He shivered as he imagined a completely destroyed Sweet Apple Acres, Carousel Boutique, and...

“Hey Apple Bloom, where does Scootaloo live?” The Doctor asked, his curiosity peaked as he knew very little about the stunt loving pegasus... other then her hero worship of Rainbow Dash.

“With her mom in Cloudsdale.” the farm filly giggled a bit, “Where did you think silly?”

“Well, I’ve never asked her anything... And you and Sweetie Bell live in town. I half expected her to be living with Rainbow Dash.” The time colt chuckled, but stopped as his young ally spoke up.

“She and Dash do live together some days... She and Scoot’s mom are together.”

“Ah... That explains why she worships Rainbow Dash so much... Father figure...” The Doctor mumbled.

“What?” Apple Bloom asked, suddenly her eyes caught sight of a familiar groove of trees. “Hey! There’s the fields, we’re almost there!” The fillies eyes stayed glued at the scenery just outside as she combed the field, looking for any sign of her sister’s old tree, Bloomberg. The Doctor wiped his forehead, sighing as he dodged that big bullet. As he looked out the window, the time colt noticed how the plains filled up so suddenly. Before, they had been rolling through a nearly endless desert, but now it was like the two ponies had pulled into an oasis.

“An apple filled town in the middle of a gigantic bad-land,” The Doctor said to himself, “this place really is amazing.”

***

“Welcome to AAAAAAAAAAAAPPLELOSA!” a voice called out from the platform. As the two ponies stepped off the train, followed by the other hundred or so Equestrians around them, Apple Bloom spotted the familiar Stetson of her oldest cousin.

“Braeburn!” the farm filly called out, quickly running to a ginger pony with a pale yellow coat similar to the young filly’s. The colt, surprisingly not a Clydesdale as The Doctor expected, also wore a vest with a small silver star pinned on it.

“Well howdy cousin Apple Bloom.” Braeburn picked up Apple Bloom with his front hooves and tossed her in the air, catching her quickly and setting her down before his eyes met The Doctor’s. “Oh, howdy there. I’m guessin’ you’re the pony that from Big Mac’s letter? The Doctor right? I’m Braeburn Apple.” The cowpony offered his front hoof, which the Doctor took in the strange Equestrian shake he had never grown accustomed to.

“Um, yes, it’s good to meet you.” the time colt’s mind was focused on how Braeburn could’ve pinned his star on if he didn’t have magic, “Apple Bloom tells me that you’re the deputy here. All thought it seems pretty quiet.” Just as The Doctor finished his sentence, he noticed a deep frown on his new friend’s face.

“Well, that ain’t because of how good of a job the sheriff and I are doin’.” Braeburn turned to the dusty little town, “That’s actually the reason I sent the letter to cousin AJ in the first place. I was hopin’ that she and her friends or Big Mac could come and help me with this case I’m workin’ on, but, from what Big Macintosh wrote, I think you could help me a lot, Mr. Doctor.”

“Please, just call me The Doctor.” the time colt said, “No need for formalities, any family of Apple Bloom’s is a friend of mine.”

“Same to ya’ll,” the deputy pony smiled and walked down the stairs of the small, wooden train station, “I’ll tell ya’ll about our little... problem at the sheriff’s station.”

***

“So,” Braeburn said as he and the two Ponyville ponies walked into the small sheriff’s office/jail, “over the past month or so, we’ve been gettin’ reports of foalnapping’s from all over the area. Even the buffalo have had their young stolen from them in the night, so they’ve given us as much help as possible. I’ve even been working close with one...”

“Little Strongheart?” Apple Bloom interrupted, nudging The Doctor, “His girlfriend.”

“Apple Bloom hush!” Braeburn said, his face turning as red as Big Macintosh’s, “But... yeah, she is. Me and her where chasing down a suspicious pony the other day, some colt in a big black cloak. A few other ponies said they had seen the same pony in the area on the nights of the foalnappings, so we just wanted to talk to him. We chased it down a back alley... We even had it cornered....”

“It?” The Doctor asked, “So it wasn’t a cloaked pony?

“I... I don’t know what it is...” Braeburn sat on the floor, shaking his head as if her where in shock, “It had these... Black eyes. Completely black, and it looked like a... A suit of old Equestrian armor. You know, like the ol’ Knights of the Celestial Order stories.” The cowpony began to shiver like a squirrel in a snow bank.

“Braeburn?” Apple Bloom put a hoof on her cousin’s back, “You don’t have ta finish...”

“No! No...” Braeburn patted the little filly’s head, “I... I need ta.” He looked back up at The Doctor, “It looked at Lil, and just ran after her like a pony possessed. I chased it, bucked it in the plot,” the deputy smiled softly and lowered his head, “nearly broke my legs on it’s hide. The thing tumbled head over hooves and went through a wall of one of the houses... Then just stood up and walked towards me. It... It said something... I didn’t hear what, but it fell down after that. Hasn’t moved since... Lil and I put it over there...” Braeburn pointed one of his front hooves as a covered up figure in the cage near the back of the sheriff’s office.

The Doctor slowly edged his way to the iron bars, stopping only to have Braeburn unlock the cell. “Becareful Doc...” the cowpony said, as the time colt stepped into the cell. The Doctor leaned down and gripped the silky cloak in his teeth, then pulled it back fast. Under the cloak was a pony, at least what used to be a pony. It was metal, all grey in color with a blank, emotionless expression on it’s face.

On it’s head where two small, pointed horns. Right bellow them where it’s eyes, which where just as Braeburn said, blank and empty. The Doctor knew what this creature was, he had hopped that it would never get close to Equestria. However, it was here, staring him in the face as he was only 100 miles away from Ponyville. “No...” The Doctor shook his head and took a few steps back, his face a painting of fear.

“Doctor?” Apple Bloom asked as she stood behind her cousin, seeing the face of the metal monster staring back at her, “What is that?” The Doctor turned to his companion and the deputy and uttered only on word:

“Cyberman.”

1,328 views

Previous Chapters Next

Comments ( 6 )

Viewing 1 - 50 of 6
- Newest First
- Oldest First

Festus

Festus #1 · Apr 14th, 2012 · · ·

More like Cyberpony
So now we have the plot going on, whoo~ Random shipping and Scoot's mom. I don't really get the thing about RD- wait a minute... Oh Celestia, no!